Thane, Aug 29 (IANS) Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday said that reservation to the Maratha community cannot be given by reducing the quota of OBC or other communities or harming their interests

He said that the government’s role is to provide whatever fits within the framework of the law, adding that the government also provides the facilities that the OBC community is getting to the Maratha community.

Commenting on the indefinite fast started by pro-Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil at Azad Maidan, the Deputy Chief Minister said that the government is still positive about whatever is right and within the norms.

“We are ready to provide a reservation without reducing anyone’s reservation, without harming anyone. It is also not the demand of Jarange-Patil to give a reservation from the OBC quota. I appeal to those who have come to Mumbai to hold agitation peacefully,” he added.

“It is not possible to reduce or take away the OBC quota and give it to the Maratha community. The Maratha community is economically backward, and the government is trying to ensure that the reservation given to them should be maintained,” he remarked.

The Deputy Chief Minister said that when he was the Chief Minister, the government gave 10 per cent reservation to the Maratha community and made Kunbi records.

“The Shinde Committee is still working to find Kunbi records in the Maratha community. The reservation given to the Maratha community (before the 2019 assembly elections) was upheld in the High Court. However, it did not pass the test of law in the Supreme Court due to some people. When the Maha Vikas Aghadi government was in power, they should have presented their case, but they did not do so,” he added.

Shinde said that the government is trying to restore the reservation it gave to the Maratha community.

Commenting on Jarange-Patil’s statement that he is ready to face bullets but won’t back down until the government meets his demands, Shinde said that it is not the government’s job to shoot its own people.

“This is the government of the common man. This is the government that provides justice to the common man,” claimed Shinde.

He attacked Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray for targeting the MahaYuti govt on the Maratha quota issue, saying that they (Uddhav Thackeray) did not maintain the reservation given to the Maratha community by the government (during the ministership of Devendra Fadnavis between 2014-2019).

“The opposition applies a double standard. When the government convenes a meeting to discuss the quota issue, they skip the meeting. The government will not do any injustice to the Maratha community,” he assured.

He further targeted Uddhav Thackeray and the opposition, saying that they have no moral right to speak about the Maratha reservation.

“They only do politics for votes. If he (Uddhav Thackeray) had courage, why didn’t he show it when he was the Chief Minister? What did he do for the Maratha community?” he asked.

–IANS

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